While researching Jesus Loves Canaanites, I came across some truly abhorrent defenses of biblical genocide in general and pedicide in particular. For example, Christian apologists claimed that the Canaanites were evil squatters, that they were like cancer, and that killing infants would actually be a merciful act. So it should be no surprise that I devoted […]
genocide
Did God Command Genocide? An Interview on Capturing Christianity
Delighted to appear on Capturing Christianity today to talk about the problem of biblical genocide.
The Problem of Canaanite Genocide and Michael Heiser’s Solution
Since Jesus Loves Canaanites was released, I have been asked on several occasions about Michael Heiser’s claim that the Canaanite conquest should be viewed as an attempt to eradicate subhuman descendents of the nephilim. Here is Heiser’s own summary of the view: “My view is that it wasn’t indiscriminate at all, and that wholesale genocide wasn’t the […]
What Happened When Christians Stopped Allegorizing Canaan?
During the Reformation, Protestants widely rejected the allegorized interpretations of the Canaanite genocide that had become de rigueur since Origen. With that safeguard gone, it was not long before they were appealing to Joshua to justify their own genocides. To illustrate, here is a passage from Philip Jenkins, Laying Down the Sword: And don’t think […]
William Lane Craig Says God May Command Us to “Drive Out Canaanites” in Our Day. I Respond.
Reasonable Faith just posted a short video from William Lane Craig in which the esteemed apologist defends the prospect that God may command Christians today to target people groups in the same way that the ancient Israelites targeted the Canaanites for extermination. In this video, I provide a response. ?
Prolife Christians Who Support Child Killing
Defending the morality of the Canaanite genocide has disastrous consequences for a consistent Christian ethic as I explain in this video. ?
Quick Replies to William Lane Craig’s Bad Talking Points on the Canaanite Genocide
William Lane Craig has made truly impressive contributions to a range of deep philosophical and theological topics. His defense of biblical atrocities like the Canaanite genocide is a notable exception. In this article, I offer some responses to excerpts from his response to a listener question about the Canaanite genocide. Craig says: “The slaughter of […]
The Extraordinary Evil of Dehumanizing Rhetoric Against the Canaanites
Today, I was reading commentaries on Proverbs 20:30, a verse which commends physically beating people as a way to inculcate wisdom and goodness in them: “Blows and wounds scrub away evil, and beatings purge the inmost being.” (Imagine how much pain and anguish has been inflicted on people as those in power cauterized their feelings […]
The Treatment of the Canaanites is Unique and Unrepeatable? Rebutting a Popular Genocide Apologetic
One of the common gambits of the Christian apologists who defend the Canaanite genocide is to insist that the narrative does not provide a general justification for genocide because the circumstances were “unique and unrepeatable”. (For example, that is a description I have heard Paul Copan use on different occasions.) The statement seems to have […]
Frank Turek on the Slaughter of the Canaanites. And My Response.
The perfectly awful apologetic defense of the Canaanite slaughter in this clip concisely captures why I wrote Jesus Loves Canaanites. Let’s begin with the video (it’s only six minutes). I’ll then post my commentary below. ? The video begins with a question posed by the moderator of what appears to be an in-church training event. […]
God and Genocide: An Interview with Critical Witness
Today, I did an interview with an English podcast called Critical Witness. It was a very spirited discussion. These fellows aren’t afraid to push back and ask hard questions. Check it out! ?
The Bible and Genocide: The Adherent Apologetics Interview
In this interview, I discuss my new book Jesus Loves Canaanites with Zac of Adherent Apologetics. ?
God of Genocide? My Debate with John Loftus
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Driving Out the Canaanites? On a failed attempt to re-brand biblical genocide
The heart and foundation of Christianity is belief in a God who is worthy of worship: in the words of Anselm, that being than which none greater can be conceived. And so, when the Bible depicts God as acting in a manner that appears to be less-than-perfect, this creates a challenge for the Christian reader. […]
